Nathaniel Hawthorne

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE - PAGE 5

Haven't had quite enough of a history lesson with "The New World," director Terrence Malick's version of the Capt. John Smith-Pocahontas story? Try exploring some of these other films focusing on early American life: "Plymouth Adventure" (1952): In this workmanlike effort, Spencer Tracy is tough and stubborn as the captain of the Mayflower, determined to beat everything Mother Nature can dish out in order to help the Pilgrims reach Plymouth Rock. Now, if only fetching Gene Tierney, as another man's wife, wasn't quite so distracting .... "The Scarlet Letter" (1926, 1995)

In this charming New England town, you can immerse yourself in Halloween themes even in advance of the actual Halloween holiday. Salem's bewitching sights year-round include the Witch Trial Memorial (free admission, located on Charter Street), the Salem Witch Village, the Salem Wax Museum of Witches & Seafarers (admission to both is included in the "Salem Hysteria Pass" available for $8.95 at www.salemwaxmuseum.com, or call 800-298-2929), the Salem Witch Museum ($6; 978-744-1692), the Witch Dungeon Museum ($6; 978-741-3570)

On March 16, 1521, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippine Islands. In 1534 England severed relations with the Roman Catholic Church. In 1802 Congress authorized the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. In 1827 Freedom's Journal, the first newspaper edited for and by blacks, was published in New York City. In 1830 only 31 shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange in one of its slowest trading days. In 1850 Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter," was published.

Michael Mann's "Heat" is a grim, tough and racy contemporary crime thriller that begins with a nearly bungled armored car robbery and becomes a manhunt epic. Dividing our attention equally between the heist's punctilious criminal mastermind, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), and the brash, obsessive cop on his tail, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), "Heat" is really two movies in one. Yet its nearly three-hour running time races by. Pacino and De Niro are together only briefly, but writer-director Mann milks their scenes dry. This parallel construction, balancing scenes between hunter and prey who rarely meet, isn't unusual for movie thrillers.

Over the past several months, there has been a great deal of dialogue about the lessons our children will learn from the crisis surrounding President Clinton. Perhaps one of the many lessons was recently demonstrated in my high school American Literature Honors class. My students were assigned Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic "The Scarlet Letter." As the students became engaged in the novel and in the ensuing classroom discussions, they gradually began to perceive a correlation between the fictional Hester Prynne's adulterous state of affairs and the adulterous affair between President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

Russell Amos Kirk, the author of more than 30 books, hundreds of essays, reviews and syndicated columns and a founder of the modern conservative movement in the United States, died Friday in his rural home in Mecosta, Mich. He was 75. Mr. Kirk died of congestive heart failure, said his son-in-law, Jeffrey Nelson. Speaking at a testimonial dinner in Mr. Kirk's honor in Washington in 1981, President Ronald Reagan, then newly elected, said that Mr. Kirk "helped renew a generation's interest and knowledge of `permanent things,' which are the underpinnings and the intellectual infrastructure of the conservative revival of our nation."

There's more to Salem than witches. It is a thriving waterfront community of 38,000, just 15 miles north of Boston. Among its non-witchery offerings: Events - Salem's Heritage Days: A series of events that re-create various aspects of Salem's rich history and heritage. Aug. 10-16. - Concerts on Salem Common: Presented throughout August. - Haunted Happenings Week: Events include storytelling at museum sites, a haunted house on Salem Common and Halloween-related activities throughout the city.

One of the many benefits of being a Stephen King enthusiast is the author's astounding productivity: The minute a reader disengages from a just-released best seller, the next is already bearing down like a runaway locomotive. It has been only six months since publication of co-author King's "Black House," the sprawling sequel to the 1984 classic fantasy-horror, coming-of-age tale "The Talisman." But his fans will delight in the arrival now of "Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales" (Scribner, 459 pages, $28)

One thing to know about our book group: The Novel Study Group of Western Springs started because Polly Decker said everyone should do what she is good at – and Polly, an English teacher, was good at discussing literature. Since World War II, the women of Western Springs and several surrounding suburbs have met once a month to apply 20 essential questions to two related works of fiction. The goal always has been to read those books they otherwise never would have read, and when you stepped over the threshold, you HAD read both books.